Stress management among hospital nurses--stress & stress-coping scale (SSCQ) as applied to nurses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of the Stress and Stress-Coping Questionnaire (SSCQ) for female nursing groups. Subjects were 300 female nurses employed at hospitals. Mean age was 32.9 +/- 8.9 yr and mean number of years of work experience was 11.9 +/- 8.0 yr. Data for the study were collected via the self-completed SSCQ, which all subjects completed. In order to asses the validity of the SSCQ, subjects were also asked to complete a 60-question General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) that assessed mental well being. Based on the results of factor analysis, the original version of the SSCQ, comprising 153 questions in 10 subscales, was revised to the nurse-specific SSCQ-N, comprising 123 questions and 15 subscales. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for subscales varied from 0.70 to 0.83, showing a significant correlation with the point score of the GHQ, for demonstrating criterion-related validity in the SSCQ. These results verify the usefulness for female nursing groups of the SSCQ for assessing mental well being and suggesting ways to manage stress in nurses.